The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea macrophylla, commercially referred to as a lacecap-type Hydrangea and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘H217903’.
The new Hydrangea plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in De Kwakel, The Netherlands and Glandorf, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact and freely-branching Hydrangea plants with strong sturdy stems, large inflorescences with numerous double-type sterile flowers, attractive sterile flower color and good postproduction longevity.
The new Hydrangea plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in March, 2012 in De Kwakel, The Netherlands, of a proprietary selection of Hydrangea macrophylla identified as code number 10-0169-002 not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Hydrangea macrophylla identified as code number 10-0170-025, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Hydrangea plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Glandorf, Germany in March, 2013.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hydrangea plant by vegetative tip cuttings in a controlled environment in De Kwakel, The Netherlands since April, 2014 has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.